Guard for cutter-bars



(No Model.)

' B. 1-. SHEPHERD. GUARD FOR CUTTER BARS No. 572,728. Patented .Dec. 8 1896.

- Q I I 2 1a? la' 'mmliwfimz UNITED STATES PATENT ()FEICE.

BENJAMIN F. SHEPHERD, OF MEN'DON, ILLINOIS.

GUARD FOR CUTTER-BARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 572,728, dated December 8, 1896.

Application filed 8 011 2 2, 1 8 9 4- T0 all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN F. SHEPHERD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mendon, in the county of Adams and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Guard for Cutter-Bars, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in guards for the cutter-bars of harvesters, mowers, and reapers; and it has for its object to provide a guard which will not crowd or push logged or low-lying grass or grain or other obstructions downward or forward, but will raise the same and feed it properly to the cutters, to provide means wherebythe grain or grass is held from slipping upon the guardfinger without the use of the usual overhangin gportion of the guard, and to provide means for facilitating the grinding or dressing of the lateral edges of the guard to coact efficiently with the cutting edges of the knives, to avoid the necessity of replacing fingers and dispense with the usual ledger-plates which are fixed to the upper surfaces of the fingers to form a seat for the knives.

Further objects and advantages of this inventionvwill appear in the following description,and the novel features thereof-willbe par ticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of a cutter-bar and guard embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a side view, partly in section, of the same.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in both figures of the drawings.

In the construction embodying my invention I dispensewith the overhanging portion of the guard-finger in order to avoid the choking common to the ordinary'forms of guardfingers which frequently results in injury to the parts of the cutter-bar, and, furthermore, I dispense with a shoulder at the front extremities of the knives and form the guardfingers with perfectly fiat horizontal upper surfaces which are equal in length with the knives, whereby they terminate approximately at the same point. The finger-bar 1,

which carries the guard-fingers 2, may be of the ordinary or any preferred construction, and the cutter-bar 3, having the knives 4, is mounted, as in the ordinary construction,

Serial No. 504,687. (No modeL') upon the rear portions of the guard-fingers contiguous to the front edge of the finger-bar. The guard-finger is provided at its rear end with an ear 5 to extend under and adapted to be secured to the finger-bar, said ear termi- 6, which bears against the front edge of the finger-bar, and in front of this fiangeis a neck or reduced portion 7 of cross sectionallyrounded construction, overwhich operates the cutter-bar, the convexly-rounded upper surface of the neck serving to prevent grass and other material from collecting between the neck and the under surface of the cutter-bar. In front of the neck 7 are lateral spacinglugs 8.

The body portion of the finger, which constitutes the novel element of the construction illustrated in the drawings, is provided with a fiat horizontal upper surface forming a seat for the knives 4, and downwardly-convergent side surfaces which intersect said upper surface to form acute angles, said angles constituting the edges which cooperate with the cutting edges of the knives to secure a shear cut. These edges of the finger preferably diverge slightly toward their rear ends, and the upper surface of the finger is scored or serrated, as at 10, contiguous to its cutting edges in rearWardly-divergent lines which extend outward to the cutting edges, and in addition to preventing the slipping of the grass or grain when encountered by the knives these scores or serrations facilitate the grinding or dressing of the fingers when their edges are Worn or rounded by continued use. The

surfaces of the finger reduces the intersecting angle to a sharp edge, as when the finger is new,'without destroying the scores or serrations, and hence a farmer or other user of the machine can with facility and without loss of time restore the guard-fingers to practically their original condition without expense, as in the old construction of replacing ledgerplates.

The fiat horizontal upper surfaces of the fingers terminate abruptly in transverse lines approximately at the points or extremities of the knives 4, as shown clearly in Fig. 2, from which points the finger is beveled downwardly and forwardly, as at 9, to form a point 10, which grinding of the downwardly-convergent side nating at its front end in a transverse flange operates close to thesurface of the soil and is adapted to pass under a bunch of grass or other obstruction and bring it up to the plane of the knives by reason of the beveled surface 9. This construction of guard-finger avoids the annoyance due to the impaling of obstructions, such as mouse-nests, upon the points of the guardfingers, the removal of such obstructions being impossible except, by hand. Furthermore, the reduction of the lower edges of the guard-fingers, due to the beveling of the side surfaces thereof, reduces the friction due to the contact of the fingers with the soil or stubble and enables grain or grass, rooted directly under the centers of the fingers, to come within reach of the knives without excessive lateral bending of the stalks.

Various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit orsacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim is 1. A guard-finger having a fiat upper surface adapted to be traversed by the knives of a cutter-bar, and beveled downwardly-convergent side surfaces intersecting said upper; surface in acute angles, the upper surface be- 5 111g scored or serrated in rearwardly-divergent tions of said fiat upper surfaces of the fingers,

the grass or grain being held from slipping by the roughened lateral edges of the fingers caused by scoring the upper surfaces of the fingers in lines intersecting said edges, Whereby the fingers may be side-dressed or ground without obliterating the scores, substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

BENJAMIN F. SHEPHERD.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM CHANT, SANFORD SWAN. 

